DATE=1/26/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA - SECURITY
NUMBER=5-45315
BYLINE=ANDRE DE NESNERA
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Earlier this month, the Russian government
adopted a new national security doctrine, replacing
the one implemented in 1997. In this report from
Washington, former Moscow correspondent Andre de
Nesnera looks at the document and discusses what may
have prompted senior Russian officials to come out
with such a doctrine at this time.
TEXT: Russia's new security doctrine is the fruit of
months of debate among Russia's military and political
elite and provides the first indication of acting
President Vladimir Putin's strategic thinking.
The more than 20-page document looks at Russia's goals
in the economic and military spheres. It emphasizes
the need to fight terrorism and organized crime, while
talking about reversing adverse trends in the
country's economy and boosting foreign investments.
The security doctrine also takes a more
confrontational tone towards the West - and more
specifically, the United States. It criticizes
Washington for what it calls its unilateral military
solutions to global problems by bypassing
international law: a clear reference to the U-S-led
NATO campaign against Yugoslavia. The document also
says NATO's use of military force outside its
boundaries - and without U-N Security Council sanction
- could destabilize the entire global strategic arena.
Michael McFaul - from the "Carnegie Institute" - says
the doctrine stems from Russia's perception that it is
weak and is under assault from a hostile western
world.
/// MCFAUl ACT ///
It is a recognition of Russia's weakness, and it
is a rhetorical reassertion of Russia (Russia's
strength). But realistically, a country with a
Gross Domestic Product the size of (the U-S
State of) Illinois, with an army in disarray,
with many internal problems, security threats
within Russia's borders - I don't think it is
realistic to assume that Russia is now going to
reassert itself on the global stage. That is
the part that bothers me about the document:
that there is that kind of language from the
past that does not coincide with Russian
realities today.
/// END ACT ///
Over the past few years, Russia and the West have
clashed over such issues as NATO's bombing of
Yugoslavia, the alliance's eastward expansion, Iraq,
arms control and Moscow's war against separatists in
the Russian region of Chechnya.
Bruce Johnson - Russia expert with the "Hudson
Institute" - says the new security doctrine highlights
Moscow's long-standing love-hate relationship with the
West.
/// JOHNSON ACT ///
It has always been a country that has felt that
as much as it desires a window on the West, it
feels the West is a threat to the sovereignty
and integrity of the Russian way of life -
because it is very, very different from anything
that the West knows or understands. It (the
security doctrine) is also intended to frighten
other republics within the Commonwealth of
Independent States (C-I-S) - or the old Soviet
Union - from attempting to do what the Chechens
are doing - and that is, I think, its most
powerful effect.
/// END ACT ///
Russia's new security doctrine also represents a shift
in Moscow's reliance on nuclear weapons. Previously,
Moscow said it would only use nuclear weapons if
Russia's sovereignty were threatened. The new
document allows the use of nuclear weapons "to repel
armed aggression" - a much broader interpretation.
Ariel Cohen - with the "Heritage Foundation" - says
Russia's reliance on nuclear weapons has increased as
its conventional forces have deteriorated.
/// COHEN ACT ///
Russia has abandoned the concept of "no first
use" (of nuclear weapons) that was formulated by
(Soviet leader) Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980's.
As Russia became a weaker power and as the
Russian conventional forces demonstrate their
lack of vigor in Chechnya - and before that, the
Soviet defeat in Afghanistan - Russia tends to
rely more on its nuclear weapons. This is not
without precedent. In fact, NATO had a declared
"first use" doctrine in its confrontation with
the Soviet Union in Europe in the 1970's, when
NATO was considered weaker conventionally. So I
would say it is a "law of conventional
imbalance": that party that has a weaker hand
conventionally, would declare a reliance on a
nuclear deterrent.
/// END ACT ///
Many analysts say Russia's new security doctrine is as
much for domestic consumption as it is for western
perusal. They say it is no accident the document was
released during a presidential campaign, at a time
when acting President Vladimir Putin is riding high in
public opinion surveys. Analysts say such a document
can only help his cause.
At the same time, analysts say the security doctrine
is a non-binding document and does not force the
Russian government to follow its precepts. But the
document does provide a glimpse into the thinking of
Russia's ruling elite. (Signed)
NEB/ADEN/JP
26-Jan-2000 16:18 PM EDT (26-Jan-2000 2118 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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